Learning To Swim
by Lariren-Shadow
Summary: On a hot day in Ithilien, Faramir tries to help Éowyn cool off a little and learns something about her.


**A/N**: Inspired by **Raksha the Demon'**s drabble for me, for my birthday, called "Water Sports". It's currently on HASA in the birthday cars forum. Again, thank you for the drabbles!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own them.

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It was a hot, muggy, summers day in Ithilien. Faramir sat in his study, feeling very uncomfortable in his formal attire. He looked at the work that he had to do and sighed. He could not concentrate for another minute longer in this heat. He got up, leaving his work behind, and went in search of Éowyn.

Faramir came upon Éowyn lying under a pine tree, her hair in a golden braid. He moved silently towards her, watching her chest rise and fall with every breath. He lye down beside her and she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"It is to hot, my Lord." Éowyn said, wiping sweat from her brow.

"And I agree, my Lady. But I think I know where we can cool off." He said, standing and offering his hand to her. She stood and brushed the needles off of herself and out of her hair.

They set off through the blazing sun, walking in the shade whenever possible. They did not have to go very far, for where Faramir was leading was close to their home. They passed through a few more trees and came to a clearing. The light streamed through the trees, casting different shaped shadows on the place, as well as the pool that was before them. Where the sun hit it, the water gleamed and shined. The clearing was a bit cooler than where they had been, and the shade felt nice.

Faramir quickly discarded his tunic and boots, and ran into the refreshing waters. Éowyn stood by, watching Faramir cool in the water, not moving to join. Faramir stopped and looked at her.

"Why do you no join me, my love?" Faramir asked, puzzled. He swam over to where it became shallow and walked out to her.

Éowyn looked at the ground, and murmured, "I can not swim." Faramir stopped in front of her, glistening from the water, dark hair clinging to his neck. Éowyn found it hard to keep her eyes down with him standing right there. He lifted her head and she continued. "It is not that I did not want to, I did. But my mother and nurse thought I was to young, for the longest time. When I became old enough, in their eyes, my parents died and I could not go with Éomer and his friends, because they were to old for me to be around. I just never went with anyone else." ´Éowyn finished. Faramir leaned closer to here and brushed his lips ever so softly over hers. Then he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss. With his arms tightly grasping her, he began to move backwards. The sudden movement made her feet slip out of her shoes. Éowyn tried to protest but all Faramir did was move her closer to him. His hands also moved to the bottom of her hair, unbraiding it as he held her closer.

Éowyn was lost in his kiss. Faramir was moving back towards the pool, knowing full well what he was doing. Éowyn did not protest, nor entirely realize where Faramir was leading. He arms lifted her so that when he entered the water, she did not know. When he set her down, it took her a second to regain consciousness and see where she was.

The cold water felt good on her skin, though she moved quickly to leave. Faramir held her in his arms.

"Do not worry, I will keep you afloat." He whispered into her ear. Éowyn, however, did not find this comforting and struggled to leave the water. Her movement set Faramir off balance and he fell back, into the deeper water, taking Éowyn with him.

Éowyn let out a yelp when she hit the water, and immediately started flailing her arms to try to move. Faramir still had a hold on her and tried to container her movements.

"Éowyn, you're not going to drown," He spat through the water that she was sending his way, "calm down, your sitting up."

She stopped moving her arms and looked around. The water came up to her collarbone and she was defiantly sitting down. She looked at him, as he lost control and burst out laughing. She splashed him and then smiled at the look of surprise on his face. It was her turn to laugh now. "You think that was funny?" She nodded and splashed him again. He splashed her back and they continued like this for a little while. They stopped and collapsed into laughter.

Faramir was the first to regain some composure and he pulled Éowyn closer to him. He smiled at her and she at him. "Would you like to learn to be able to swim now?" He whispered to her. Éowyn thought, and then nodded. She grabbed on tightly to his neck as he moved to deeper water. In truth, the water never got that deep, in the deepest part they could both stand with their heads above the water.

Once Faramir stopped, he tried to get Éowyn to lessen her grip on his neck. He tried, but was beginning to have to take shallow breaths because of her grip. "Éowyn, could you please loosen your grip a little, I will not let you drown. I have a hold of you." He said, Éowyn looked at him, not really believing him. Yet, she trusted him, so she did as he asked.

"Now, can you hold your breath?" He asked. She looked at him with a scowl on her face.

"Of course I can." She said.

"Can you hold it under water?" Éowyn did not know if she could, but her pride made her nod anyway. "Well, even if you think you do, try blowing bubbles to stay under longer." Faramir said. Éowyn looked hesitant at the thought of letting go of him. "I'll still hold on to you." He said. With that, Éowyn dunked her head. Bubbles came up from where she went under. A second later she resurfaced, taking a deep breath.

"Is that all?" She asked. Faramir shock his head.

"You need to learn how to float still. Now can you lye on your back?" Éowyn looked questioningly at him. He smiled at her and she moved to try. Faramir put his hand on her lower back to help her balance out. The feeling of being supported by the water was new to her.

Once Faramir was sure that she would not sink, he slowly removed his hand. Éowyn sank a little, but did not completely sink, and became balanced again. Éowyn closed her eyes, and felt the sun on her face, for the first time in days warming her instead of making the world seem unbearable. Faramir could not resist what he did next, she looked too peaceful. He reached out and found her stomach and gently tickled her. She gave another yelp as she moved forward, and grabbed on to his neck again.

"Why did you do that?" Éowyn asked accessibly.

"You looked to perfect not too, my love." Faramir said, moving to kiss her again. Éowyn moved her hand in front of his mouth, stopping his advances.

"No, the last time you kissed me, I ended up in here. I should be the one to kiss you." She said, moving her hand away, and meeting his lips.

The sun began to set, as they stayed in the waters. Though, before it finished its slow descent into the west, Faramir lead Éowyn back to their home, both soaking wet.

"My love, I do believe that you need to dry off." Éowyn said once they were back in their chambers.

"I do think that I do, but I could use some help." He said, moving closer to her.

She took his hand and moved him towards their bedchambers. "I think that I can do that." She said with a playful smile.

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**A/N**: So please review! And Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate! And, in all honesty, my summer job is a coach on my swim team and my coach (head coach) would be ashamed at how long it took me to remember what the first thing to do when you teach someone to swim. But I'm still not sure, seeing as when I work with the beginners, they have kick boards. 


End file.
